Thursday, September 30, 2010

"I have to add this though: what would make someone, who has a customer motorcycle design company, wear and pose for a photo with a custom motorcycle on it that was never created by them in the first place?"

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Entering the vein of traffic from the right hand car pool lane, I passed the toll booths and signaled I was coming all the way over to the left with a wave of my hand. There's a moment of discombulation from most drivers after they pass the Bay Bridge toll booths that gives you ample time to get to the appropriate lane-splitting position between lanes 1 and 2. The cars begin to accelerate, but they have to deal with the choking congestion of other drivers. Not me. I know that to get around the Bay during rush hour, a motorcycle is the only way. You aren't limited to how fast the driver is going in front of you; you make your own way. The last true freedom left to man in this country. Well, at least this state.

The bridge begins to incline and you can see the city slowly coming closer and closer. It's a balancing act between being fast and not being an asshole. I probably edge closer to asshole more than I like to admit, but I keep it within reason. A lot of riders are too scared to lane-split and they are stuck in traffic with the rest of the herd. I feel sorry for these poor saps. Why ride a bike if you can't enjoy the perks? Some riders are very slow when it comes to splitting. They seem spooked, apprehensive, nervous, and unsure of their abilities and the other cars. Then there's people like me who just do it and don't think about it. It's natural. And, unfortunately, there's the young punks who haven't accepted their mortality yet and have a tendency to ride way faster than should be acceptable and way more dangerously. They quickly creep up behind you and demand you get out of their way. Which I do. That's the unwritten rule: Get out of the way. Obey it. Check your 6, get your ass over.

I tend to enter a different mindset when I lane-split. I don't think about anything other than "the now." In my life I can't possibly think about a situation where I'm more conscious of the present. I spend a lot of my life planning for the future or feeling nostalgic. But not with lane-splitting. I become one with the world, the bike, the road. Vehicles have their own body language and you can learn to read and understand what a driver is thinking of doing. Are there close calls? All the time. But the more you do it, the better you get.

I also know when to hold back. A new bridge is being built, so they've added a horrible S-curve right before Treasure Island that slows down the whole flow. Drivers tend to have difficulty staying in their own lane in these curves, and I know to not split during this section. Experience tells me where the bad spots are, where there are holes in the pavement, and what areas drivers have a hard time seeing thanks to blind spots or the sun.

Zooming through the Treasure Island tunnel it's now a straight shot for San Francisco. Traffic magically thins out around here and I can ride in the left lane at full speed for most of it. Soon enough, it's time to merge back with traffic and careen around the gentle curves until just south of the city where 80 South merges with 280 South. Which is a clusterfuck to put it bluntly. It dumps you out near the right side of the freeway and I try to make my way all the way to left side again as quickly and carefully as possible.

After a mile or so of splitting, traffic opens up once again and you head down south past Brisbane, past South San Francisco, past the airport, past San Bruno and Millbrae and finally to Burlingame. The smell of burning chocolate pierces your nostrils and I jump off the freeway at the Broadway exit. Time to relax and let my adrenaline be reabsorbed into my blood stream. Just city streets the rest of the way. 33 minutes door to work. Not too shabby.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Like I mentioned earlier, I cracked the exhaust manifold because I am a dumbass. I didn't have time to put the new one on, so I used my Super Awesome #1 Gold AAA Card and got it towed to Oakland, no charge. The guy that came out was very conscious of my car being low and did everything he could to not have it scrape. Excellent professional. Watching the car on the back of the truck bounce around definitekly told me I need new shocks. But she's home, alive, well, and hopefully I can get her fixed up for Friday's last Oakland Cruise Night.

Monday, September 27, 2010

If Richard Pryor could do it, so could we. After what seemed like an eternity of packing over the last few weeks, the movers, Winter Moving, showed up and did all the grunt work for us. Thankfully we packed up the garage the week before, because that truck was filled to the end. We have a lot of shit. We also were fortunate enough to pick one of the hottest weekends of the year to move. The moving part was seamless and no hiccups. Unpacking is going to be a nightmare. The house is 1000 degrees, the basement is packed, and the backyard of full of trash. There is so much to do right now it seems insurmountable. But luckily Lori calms me down when I start freaking out a little, and vice-versa.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

It's over! We're moved in, unpacking, and just tying up a few loose ends. That's another post. What I can't believe is what a raging dumbass I am. Friday I drove to work in the Desoto. I came home and pulled up by the sidewalk at home and heard a loud "sscccrrrrraaaaape" as my dump tube hit the sidewalk. After the scrape and a loud "FUCK!" from me, the sound of a snapped exhaust manifold filled the air. Fucking shit, 2 days before I need to drive it to Oakland. Thank Jebus I have a spare manifold. But thank Jebus X 10 I have a gold membership at AAA and can tow it to Oakland for free. These dump tubes have been nothing but problems since I had them installed. Looks like I'll be swapping the manifold out next weekend, hopefully in time for the last Oakland Cruise Night. And hopefully without snapping any manifold studs. Sheep balls on a stick.

Friday, September 24, 2010

I heard a noise, I jumped up, and the dogs barked at 3:30 A.M. last night. I looked out the window and didn't see anything. Seconds later I heard a horn do a long fading funeral note and a couple bangs, jumped up again and ran to the door. "OH MY GOD! There's a truck on fire across the street!" I put my clothes on and ran out the door. The San Bruno fire just happened and it was fresh on my mind. I rang a few doorbells of neighbors to try to wake them up in case, and Lori called 911. Then I took a video just as the firetruck came.

I saw the poor guy this morning just standing over his truck in disbelief. Electrical fire is my guess, the whole front end is gone. I don't think it ever got to the gas tank amazingly.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Our last night going out from South City. We went to the Elbo Room to have some cheap happy hour drinks and listen to Dusty spin some old soul. Tonight it's packing the kitchen and cleaning. We're just about set. Our dogs can't wait to get back to their big yard to run around.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

T-Minus 6 days until I start commuting from Oakland. There is no BART stop in Burlingame, so my only real option is to motorcycle commute again, rain or shine or wind or hell flames. When we lived in the Fruitvale area of Oakland a few years ago, I got a 2008 KLR650 and commuted across the San Mateo bridge. I loved that KLR, even with all its faults like excessive oil burning and plastics. It was nice to just have a reliable motorcycle to get me to work. But I'll never buy new again. Especially since I have a tendency to ride off cliffs. I have 2 project bikes and my poor XS650 is in serious need of a top end job, so I'm in the market for another KLR, this time, I'm looking from 2004-2007 and under $3000. I'd love to put that $3000 to something like finishing my projects, but this is a transportation necessity. I learned from my mistakes of commuting last time, so I'll need some decent rain gear and hard luggage cases. And you don't know how nice riding a motorcycle in the cold can be until you get some heated grips.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

We did it, we f'ing did it. Not only did we plow through a hoarder's wet dream, completely clean the entire basement, remove 60 year old trash, but we also moved my entire garage over. To say we are exhausted is an understatement. now we can just cruise on easy street as the movers move the rest next Saturday. 1 more week of South City.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

More tired, less fun today. Major awesome thanks to Doug for helping. Old owners took the wigs and some other good stuff. Oh well. We got all the furniture we need, a working Victrola record player, a basement freezer, and tons of misc. We're very happy about that. And there will be a huge garage sale coming up. We are currently living off Little Caesars "Hot N Ready"s. Next load is loaded in the Sprinter. It will be a two van trip tomorrow for all my garage stuff. Tired. Movers are taking the bulk of it, I'm just trying to save them some time and us some money. Time for a shower.

Friday, September 17, 2010

The Dodge Sprinter. Diesel powered. Burning dinosaur bones. Jon & Kate haul their brood around in one. And the company I work for just got one. And we were lucky enough to convince my boss to let us borrow it for the weekend to move things with. Sure, my other coworker gets to drive the Lamborghini, the R8, the Mercedes... but damn, this is like driving a semi! I feel like there should be a resistance band hanging from the roof so I can practice for the upcoming arm wrestling competition. Over the top, baby!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

I have a Heartwalk 5K at lunchtime with some work people. I was hoping I'd run it but I haven't really reconditioned myself for it. I just started running again yesterday and as usual my stamina is way down and I have to get my knees, ankles, and feet back into pavement pounding condition. So I'll probably walk-run it.

Also, if everyone gets their act together, today is the day Lori and I should be signing paperwork on our house in Alameda. We NEED to sign paperwork today so we can get the keys on Friday and can use the weekend to clean out the new house. Otherwise we have to wait til Monday and clean it out during the weeknights... after work... in the dark.

Finally, I think I'm going to go with Factory Metalwork's hardtail. It's cheaper than the David Bird and definitely not as common. But more importantly I can get it in a 2" stretch, 2" drop. Or actually anything I want. David Birds only can do a 1" drop if it's a 2" stretch. So maybe after all the move is done, that will be the first thing I get for the Triumph.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Everything is packed. We are living like hoarders, boxes of stuff everywhere, pathways through the house. I feel tense as there is no room, the walls are closing in on me. I can't work on any hobbies as everything is packed away. And I do a lot of thinking. Which can be dangerous.

Looks correct from this angle

When I first got my Triumph there was something about it that just didn't sit right. I think it was two things: 1. The drag exhaust just didn't match the style of bike I wanted and 2. The 4" stretch hardtail was just too long. I was going to change these things but I was trying to save money and just "run what ya brung." After thinking on it for years I don't think I can do that, I just won't be happy. So I'm going to replace my hardtail with a 2" stretch. That will suck the back end in. I'll have to remount my fender and seat, but it shouldn't affect too much, including the oil tank. I'm also going to replace the 16" wheel with either an 18" or 19" and put the 16" MKII tire on my CB750 project. This should bring all the proportions of the bike to where they should be.

Exhaust? I'm not sure yet. Something a little more timeless and classic. This is one of those hard decisions you have to make in life, especially after you put in hours of work on something, only to change it.